1832 Ottoman Imperial Engineering Office Manuscript Folding Map of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine

An extraordinary, one-of-a-kind large-format manuscript folding map of Ottoman Syria produced by the sultan's Imperial Engineering Office c. 1832. It was made in the context of the First Egyptian Ottoman War (1831 - 1833), which saw the region temporarily come under Egyptian rule.

A Closer Look

Covering nearly the entire eastern Mediterranean coast from Iskenderun to just south of Jaffa (now Tel Aviv), this map includes a variety of political, infrastructural, and topographical details. Mountains are illustrated, and waterways are traced, as are roads between settlements. The various Ottoman eyalets, including Sidon (ایالت صیدا), Damascus (ایالت شام), Tripoli (ایالت طرابلس شام), and Aleppo (حلب, here as a لِوَاء or flag / banner), are labeled in large black text and traced with hand-coloring. Settlements, many of which were the center of lower-level administrative divisions such as sanjaks or livas and kazas, are also identified and divided from each other by dotted lines. At left and top, the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Iskenderun, and Adana Eyalet are labelled. At bottom right is an inset of the Dead Sea and environs, as far west as Jerusalem. Near Acre (عكا), soundings mark out nautical depths in the adjoining bay, the best natural harbor in the region.

The First Egyptian - Ottoman War (1831 - 1833)

This part of the Ottoman Empire had historically been ruled rather lightly. Following a remarkable string of conquests in the early 16th century, in which the Ottomans seized most of the Levant from the Mamluk Sultanate, titles and privileges were granted to allies and local clan leaders willing to work with the Ottomans. Greater Syria was effectively ruled as semi-autonomous territories, with the clans being tasked with collecting taxes (keeping a portion for themselves) while providing military service to the sultan. This system worked well to maintain stability on the frontiers of the empire but proved incapable of stopping powerful external challenges.

These weaknesses became apparent at the turn of the 19th century. Seeing control of the eastern Mediterranean as essential to his wider contest with the British, Napoleon invaded Egypt and Syria in 1798 - 1801. Although the French generally found success on the battlefield, especially in the campaign's early months, capturing many of the essential coastal fortifications and settlements seen here, Napoleon's attention was drawn back to Europe with the War of the Second Coalition (1798 - 1802). Moreover, the benefits to France from invading and occupying so much territory were outweighed by costs, including diseases, which killed as many French troops than died in battle. With British assistance, the Ottomans regrouped and increasingly threatened the French gains, recapturing Cairo and Alexandria in the summer of 1801, leading to an 1802 treaty which ostensibly reestablished the status quo ante.

However, the conflict was a shock to the Ottoman Empire, demonstrating the wide technological, economic, and administrative deficit of the Ottomans vis-à-vis the premier European powers. Sultan Selim III (r. 1789 - 1807) instituted a series of military reforms, but was hampered by established interests, namely the Janissary Corps. In the Levant, the sultan turned to an extremely capable administrator and military strategist named Muhammad Ali to restore Ottoman rule. Muhammad Ali was successful in pacifying Egypt, but then immediately moved to assert his autonomy and instituted a range of modernizing reforms far beyond those being pursued by the sultan. He proved to be a double-edged sword for the Ottomans - conquering the Sudan, reconquering Arabia, and nearly reconquering Greece in the 1820s - before threatening to topple the Sublime Porte itself in the 1830s.

An undercurrent of tensions between the Sublime Porte and Muhammed Ali exploded in the latter stages of the Greek War of Independence. Claiming to have been snubbed by the Sublime Porte, which had promised him rule of additional territory for his (temporary) success in suppressing Greek independence, Muhammed Ali seized the opportunity to make a move on Syria. In October 1831, he dispatched his son, Ibrahim Pasha (1789 - 1848), who had led the reconquest campaigns in Arabia and Greece, to besiege Acre and seize other cities and administrative centers, including Aleppo, Sidon, Tripoli, and Damascus. The Ottomans were riven by internal fighting and incapable of responding; by the end of 1832 Muhammed Ali's troops were moving into Anatolia itself and seemed to be on an uninterrupted march to Istanbul.

The Ottomans managed to survive thanks to foreign intervention and a bit of luck. The winter of 1832 - 1833 was especially harsh, forcing Ibrahim Pasha to stay in camp rather than continue the march to Istanbul. The delay allowed the sultan to make a desperate appeal to foreign powers for assistance, resulting in an unlikely partnership with the Ottomans' hated enemy, Russia. Now facing a massive, if hastily assembled, Ottoman force tasked with defending the capital that was backed by Russian reinforcements, and facing pressure from the British and French to find a negotiated solution, Muhammed Ali agreed to the Convention of Kütahya, which granted him virtually all the lands seen here.

Ibrahim Pasha was made governor of the newly-conquered territory and immediately instituted the sorts of modernizing reforms his father had pioneered in Egypt. But these proved to be highly unpopular; peasants were unhappy about military conscription and increased tax demands, while the historical tax farmers (mültezim) and other local power brokers of the Ottoman system were obviously disenfranchised by a modern, centralized bureaucracy. As a result, large peasant revolts broke out in Palestine and Syria in 1834. These revolts were pacified when Muhammed Ali himself traveled to the region and negotiated with rebel leaders, winning some over while exiling or executing others. Still, the entire region remained restive, and the Ottomans, who under Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808 - 1839) had suppressed the Janissaries and begun a series of more robust reforms, were dedicated to recapturing the lost provinces.

In 1839, the Ottomans made their move, invading Syria and sending a naval force to Alexandria, setting off the Second Egyptian-Ottoman War. However, both operations ended in disaster, and the Ottoman Empire again seemed to be on the brink of collapse. Again, foreign powers intervened, this time the British and Austrians, with the British shelling and then occupying Acre and Beirut (for their part, the French-backed Muhammed Ali, effectively turning the conflict into a proxy war, which helps to explain the intensity of the British response). With robust foreign support and the continued dissatisfaction of much of the population in Greater Syria with Egyptian rule, the Ottomans were able to turn the tide and win a string of victories. Now, foreign powers were concerned that it was Egypt that could collapse, and a convention was negotiated whereby Muhammed Ali surrendered claims on Greater Syria but had the independence of his khedivate in Egypt recognized by the sultan (it had until that point nominally been a vassal state of the Ottomans). In the following years, as his own health and cognitive abilities began to fail, Muhammed Ali's government became increasingly ineffective and was subject to impositions by foreign powers, especially the British. Though weakened by the entire episode, the Ottomans launched their most ambitious reforms to date (Tanzimat) and completely reorganized the administration of the Levant, eventually attempting most of the same reforms the Egyptians had instituted.

Publication History and Census

As indicated in the small circular cartouche at left, this map was prepared by the Imperial Engineering Office (مهندسخانۂ برئ همايون) in the year 1248 AH, corresponding to late 1831 or 1832. It likely was based on a European map (or maps), probably British in origin as it employs Greenwich as prime meridian. As a manuscript work, it is entirely unique, representing an extraordinary opportunity for collectors and institutions focused on the history of the Levant and the Ottoman Empire.